


Shrapnel

by deepwoundsandfadedscars



Category: Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Cal kestis whump, Gen, Hurt Cal Kestis, Whump, caught in an explosion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24228916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deepwoundsandfadedscars/pseuds/deepwoundsandfadedscars
Summary: Bad Things Happen: Caught in an ExplosionDuring a rescue mission, Cal valiantly saves Merrin and a group of hostages, but suffers for it.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 114





	Shrapnel

Cal hits the ground running as soon as the ramp of the Mantis lowers, Merrin fast on his heels. 

“The scavver ships are taking off,” Cere’s voice came over the communicator, “There’s movement in the hanger to your left, looks like villagers. We gotta take off again before these guys blow a hole in us, we’ll swing around to get you after we take out some of these ships.”

One of the scavenger ships screamed overhead as the Mantis took off, blaster bolts gouging into the cement and sending shards of rock flying into the air. Cal ducked his head and leaned forward, sprinting for the shelter of the hanger, BD-1 beeping excitedly from his shoulder.

Once inside the door, they ducked behind some crates as the ship took another pass, skimming along to fire in through the hanger door before buzzing past. It was gone for now, but they could be back in moments for another pass, so they had to act fast. Cal peeked around the edge of the crate to investigate the group of people in the middle of the hanger towards the back wall. There were about a dozen of them, various ages and species, all haggard and exhausted looking, their clothing torn and smeared in dirt and oil. They were all gagged and hands tied, unable to free themselves but some were trying to loosen the knots on the person next to them, unable to see as they fumbled with the ropes and cables with their hands tied behind their backs.

“Cal, Scavvers on the ground coming your way!” Cere said.

“Go help the hostages,” Cal said to Merrin, “I’ll get the Scavs.” 

Merrin nodded and silently slipped into the shadows, disappearing in a green mist.

Four Scavvers came blindly charging into the hanger, yelling wildly until the lead was silenced in a flurry of orange lightsaber. The body hadn’t even hit the floor before Cal dispatched the next two in the same spin, the blade slicing them both cleanly in half. He finished the move with a flourish, deactivating the secondary blade and gripping the hilt with both hands while leaping into the air to take out the last Scav in a downward slash.

Before he made contact with the Scavs helmet, his lightsaber was intercepted by the blade of a vibrosword. The impact vibrated up his arms and he staggered backwards as the Scavver pushed back hard against him. As Cal stumbled, the Scavver, a large human that towered head and shoulders over the young Jedi, swung the vibrosword at Cals head. He ducked under the attack, rolling on his shoulder to evade and get into a flanking position away from the vibrosword. As he popped to his feet again he lunged forward, driving his blade into the Scavvers torso. 

The big man roared in agony, his limbs flailing at anything he could reach. Unfortunately for Cal, his head got in the way of a fist and he took a glancing blow across his temple. He fell to one knee as pain exploded in his head, his vision tilting to the side for the moment. He closed his eyes and breathed heavily, shaking his head as though that would stop his head from feeling like it would roll right off his shoulders. He could hear BD-1 trilling in his ear, but he couldn’t even focus on what the little droid was trying to say.

“Cal!” Merrin’s voice broke through and he realized she had called him several times already. She sounded panicked so Cal forced himself to his feet, opening his eyes finally as he turned towards her voice. It took a moment to focus on her. She stood over a crate, holding the lid in one hand and staring down at its contents. One of the hostages had her gag hanging around her neck, likely removed by Merrin, and she kept yelling the same thing over and over. _Bomb_. 

“Merrin, get back!” He yelled, reaching out with the Force to grab the crate, yanking it away from her and closer to himself. From where it settled a few feet away he could see the lit up display on the face, where once there had been about ten bars were now only two and as he watched, the second line blipped out and left only one. 

Calling on the Force again, he picked up the crate and with a scream of effort heaved it towards the hanger door. Just as the final line extinguished, he spun on his heel to run in the opposite direction, towards Merrin. Before he could take two steps, the bomb exploded in mid-air, the blast throwing Cal off his feet and then everything went black.

~~~

“Cal!” Merrin screamed as the Jedi was hurled through the air, limp as a rag doll when he hit the ground, shrapnel from the crate and even the ceiling of the hanger raining down around him. 

She was already scrambling to his side before the dust could settle. He lay on his front, his head cradled in the crook of his elbow. The back of his leather vest was shredded, blood already seeping from too many holes to count and she could see several pieces of shrapnel that were still embedded in his skin.

“Cal!” Cere’s voice crackled over the communicator, “Whatever that explosion was, it scared off the Scavvers. Are you guys ok?”

Merrin tapped the button on her own device. “Cere, land immediately. Cal is injured.”

She could hear Greez yelling loudly in the background, asking if he was going to be alright, but she ignored him as the human hostage that had warned her of the bomb dropped to her knees beside the Nightsister, her hands still tied behind her back. 

“I’m sorry,” the hostage whispered, “Please just untie me, that is all I ask. Let me free the rest.” Merrin hurriedly pulled the ropes off before returning her attention to Cal, unsure of what to do to help until the Mantis returned. “Where will you go?” She asked the woman, not taking her eyes off Cal’s still form.

“If the Scavvers are gone and haven’t found it, we have a ship hidden in the forest. And if they found that, another of ours was to return tomorrow.” She placed her hand on Cal’s leg, looking over the damage. “I’m sorry you got caught in this. But I thank you for saving us.”

“He is unconscious, he cannot hear you.”

“It was meant for both of you,” the woman said. Someone from the group called out to her and she dipped her head in Merrin’s direction before rejoining the others and starting to remove their bindings.

Outside, engines roared as the Mantis settled on the cement, as close to the hanger as Greez could manage, the ramp almost extending all the way to the large door. Cere was at Cals side opposite from Merrin a moment later, her hands immediately reaching for Cal’s throat to feel for a pulse and any bones out of place. She nodded to herself, finding everything to be as it should before leaning over to look at his back. 

“Cal, can you hear me?” 

“We need to get him to the ship,” Merrin said when there was no response from Cal.

“Yes, give me a hand.”

Cere lifted Cal’s arm, draping it over her neck as she got her hands under his chest to lift him from the ground while trying to avoid touching his back as much as possible. He groaned as his head lifted from where it had been cradled against his arm, a large red pool revealed that was already staining his sleeve. She put her hand on his chin, tilting his face towards her to inspect the wound on his temple and the blood that trickled out of it. 

“Cal?” She gently tapped her fingers on his cheek. His eyes flickered weakly behind closed eyelids, but he did not rouse.

Merrin took his other arm, draping it over her own neck so he was supported between them. Cere thanked the Force that the young Jedi wasn’t significantly larger than his female companions and if they didn’t need to be so mindful of his wounds she doubted either of them would need assistance carrying him on their own. 

“Let’s move,” she grunted as she looped her arm around his torso, low on his back where there were fewer visible pieces of shrapnel. “Greez! We’re going to need the table clear and get the med bag out!”

“On it!” 

With Cal limp between them it took a few moments to pick their way through the debris littering the ground, but finally they made it through the door of the ship just as a pile of plasteel plates that had been on the kitchen table crashed to the couch below as Greez hastily cleared off the table. The last few cups landed in the terrarium as Cere and Merrin dragged Cal up the steps and deposited him on the table, laying him on his stomach. 

“Greez, where’s that medkit?” Cere called over her shoulder as she started removing layers, revealing pale, blood streaked skin. BD-1 bounced onto the table next to Cal’s head, beeping worriedly. He looked up at Cere and extended a stim canister to her with an inquisitive trill. “Not yet, BD-1. I need to get the shrapnel out first.”

BD-1 snapped his stim compartment shut again and hunkered down to watch Cere work until two ticks later when he had to move again as Greez came barging into the kitchen with the med kit, slamming it down on the table where BD-1 had just sat. 

~~~

At the noise and vibration through the table, Cal jerked awake. He tried to push himself up and his yell of surprise turned to a groan of pain as he collapsed again, his arms shaking.

“Cal! Hey kid, stay still,” Greez’s hand was on his arm and he could feel other hands on his back pushing him down onto the cold surface. He turned his head to see who was holding him down and finally relaxed when he recognized Merrin and Cere standing over him, the familiar scene of the Mantis’ kitchen behind them.

“What happened?” He asked, closing his eyes and letting his head flop onto the table again. 

“Bomb hidden in a crate, you didn’t get out of the way fast enough.” Merrin said. Cal opened his eyes when he felt a hand on his face and found his own wadded up poncho being offered as a pillow, which he gratefully accepted, allowing Merrin to help him lift his head off the table and shoving it under. He tried to move his arm to hug the makeshift pillow, but stopped when the movement sent pain shooting up and down his back.

“Stop moving,” Cere said. She was digging through the medkit, laying out bacta bandages and other ointments until she produced a pair of small tweezers. “I’m sorry Cal, but this is going to hurt.”

“Just get it out-” his words turned into a scream as Cere started to dig into one of the multiple wounds on his back, fishing for the wooden shards deep in his skin. He writhed on the table, trying to get away from the pain. Merrin placed her hand on the back of his neck, gently encouraging him to stay in one place. He tried to focus on the cool touch of her skin, anything to distract himself from the agony of his back. He could feel each piece being plucked from his skin, a strangled cry tearing through his throat with each shard.

Finally the pain became too much and he let himself be dragged into the darkness again.

~~~

Everyone in the kitchen sighed in relief as the young Jedi finally went limp again, surrendering to the relatively painless realm of unconsciousness. 

“Hurry, before he wakes again,” Merrin said.

“Only a couple left,” Cere nodded. “Use that cloth and start cleaning the wounds for me, we need to get his back covered as soon as possible.”

Merrin picked the cloth up and started gently wiping away the blood, cringing a bit every time the movement caused one of the many wounds to seep more red onto his pale skin. 

Soon Cere was also helping her clean him up and then draping strips of bacta bandages across his back. 

“Ok BD-1, your turn.” Cere said, opening her hand towards the little droid crouched on the back of the couch. He popped up and shot a stim canister into the air, where Cere snatched it as it started to fall towards the table, sinking it into Cal’s arm in one smooth motion. 

Cal sighed in relief as the stimulant rushed through him and he slowly blinked his eyes open again.

He lifted his head and flexed his jaw, the muscles aching from having it pressed to the impromptu pillow and cleared his throat. “Are we done yet?”

“Yes, we’re done.” Cere placed her hand on his head, gently rubbing circles in his hair with her thumb. “Try to go back to sleep, we’ll let the bacta do it’s work for a while and then get you to bed.”

“Oh but why, this table is so comfy,” Cal said, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he closed his eyes and repositioned himself on the poncho-pillow, trying to ignore the now dull pain as his back muscles stretched. He heard Merrin snort in laughter and squinted one eye open at her where she leaned against the kitchen counter. “You all should try it, it’s great.”

“Or we’ll just keep using it as an eating surface, thanks.” Cere gently flicked him on the ear before turning to start putting things back into the medkit. “Or we will once we sterilize it about twenty times.”

“Sounds like a you problem, I didn’t put myself here,” Cal yawned and closed his eyes again.

“No one is sleeping on the table after today,” Cere raised her voice to talk over him, a laugh floating around the edge of her voice, “I’m glad you’re feeling well enough to joke, but go to sleep, Cal.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said, stifling another yawn. Seconds later he was out, lulled to sleep by the hum of the engines and quiet conversation between his little family that he had found.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I made Cal a little too snarky at the end there, but I hope you enjoyed anyways! 
> 
> If you'd like to like or share this story on Tumblr, you can find it [here!](https://deepwoundsandfadedscars.tumblr.com/post/618339266935799808/ohh-okay-what-about-electrocution-with-ugh-i-cant)


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